This rare summer beer is once again available at the Yards Tap Room on Delaware Ave. It’s a heavy hitting American Double/Imperial IPA clocking in at 8.10% ABV. If you can get some, have it with BBQ or some pungent cheese.

Time to sell Ruben start the partial rebuild, our20+ million dollar aces are pitching like minor leaguers when we really need them to buckle down and lead us they can’t get it done…. start the partial rebuild and get it over with…

I don’t think Ruben will deal prospects to get better..probably try to deal some expiring contracts like MYoung and Chooch maybe Paps, but I don’t think ou can give up on winning the division..Braves and Nats losing as well. Find a way to get in and you have a shot.

Not just Lee, hamels too… both of them sucked when we needed them to step it up… the point I’m trying to get across is it’s time to sell… buying and trying to make a run will only hurt this team in the coming years, it’s time to sell some pieces and get some value, don’t ignore the inevitable, sell now and start building for years to come…

The lack of understanding of the meaning (or relative lack thereof) of small sample sizes never ceases to amaze me. If Ruben trades our aces because they are pitching like minor leaguers, should he accept any old minor leaguers in return? Imagine how much some of these fans will complain when next year’s rotation is headlined by Kyle Kendrick.

The lack of brain functionality in being able to read and comprehend something amazes me… where in either of those posts did I say trade our aces… I said start rebuilding trade who you need to trade,I never said who to trade, and I said our aces sucked pitched like minor leaguers when we really needed them to keep both games close…. if you can’t read and understand what I said then go back to grade school maybe they can help you there cause I don’t have the time out would take…

Hogey’s Role: Once again you are name calling or at insinuating that no one here except yourself has any more than a grade school education.

I suppose it never occurrede to yoy that your comment may have been worded poorly. In the same paragragh you say it’s time to sell and the aces are pitching badly. That could easily be construed as rebuild and start with Lee and Hamels.

Next time, you might want to review your own comment, maybe separating your thoughts more, or naming some players you feel should be moved insted of just including Lee and Hamels and no one else when you say it’s time to rebuild. The way it’s worded now, even Einstein might think you’re advocating dumping the top two pitchers.

Just because someone might misinterpret a poorly worded comment is no reason to belittle that person.

You trade some pieces, save some pieces and see if you can make something of it… if you can’t, and if what we’re getting in return of who we might sell, then you might have to look at dealing Lee or hamels, though I think that’s unlikely…

I think you try to deal Ruiz, Michael and delmon young, and maybe papelbon and see what you net with that before selling the aces…

Yes, I also think they should do a partial rebuild. However, my belief has nothing to do with how their aces pitched in the small sample size of their respective most recent starts and everything to do with the fact that the GM has built a mediocre, overpaid and aging roster. They should get whatever they can for any tradeable players who either do not project to be part of their future (Michael Young) or who project to be overpaid (Papelbon).

I like papelbon, and I don’t want to trade him but I believe he probably will bring the most value besides a hamels or Lee… I think papelbon is more likely to be traded out of those three anyway..

The roster is hard to blame on amaro it’s hard to see 4-5 years down the road when handing out those contracts, he does deserve some criticism but I can’t lay it all on him, he rewarded guys for being successful thinking they would still be very successful but he was wrong, it’s a shame it spiraled down so fast like it did….

In my book, that’s calling someone uneducated. It may not be a direct name, but it certainly insinuates stupidity.

I don’t disagree with debating, but what you’re doing is derogatory and inflammatory, even if you’re too ignorant to notice it. Why can’t you just disagree in a civil manner, rather than so often calling people’s backgrounds into question? It makes you sound like a 3rd grade bully, even though I’d guess you may be more intelligent than that.

“You just lost”. Guess that establishes that your not a Phillies fan..that being saud Fightins lose no ground in division race..Saturdays loss disappointing, but Harvey is best pitcher in NL..no shame there..Division still up for grabs..don’t quit unless your a quitter!!

Howard is a big boy. He wears big boy pants and has big boy legal/agent representation. Do you think they drugged him and gave him those shots while he was sleeping??? Do you think he had the opportunity to consult with his own physicians as well? The modern day athlete is privy to medical care and treatment I can only dream about. Howard has not really excelled at maintaining his own physique by the way. Don’t lay that one on the Phillies.

In one of those rare baseball statistical oddities, Matt Harvey has 8 wins this season.
And 4 of those are against the Phils. If he could pitch against us everyday he could have started the All Star game.

Oh, wait…..

But seriously, has any All Star starter ever won half their games against one team?

That’s a funny weekend in the books. More failure to assert, or is it The Mess warming up to bring things closer still as they now play 7 against the Braves and Nats. Either way, despite the not impossible to believe 2 of 3 losses, hardly an affect on the standings.

Today wasn’t about Harvey, The fact that they weren’t going to do much against him was a given.Today’s game was about Lee. He got lit up against one of the worst offenses in baseball.In fact the Phillies starters were abysmal this series. Not a good sign.
Right now ,the Phillies do not have a true #1 guy.

Like many good pitchers (and hitters) Cliff Lee is streaky. He can run up unbelievable stretches where he is unhittable, and then goes into slumps for a few games where he gets lit up. All in all, he’s still a number 1 or 2 for just about any team IMO.

No, it doesn’t. The Phillies scored 13 runs in the 3 games. Unfortunately for them, they hit for an incredible average with RISP on Friday, they hit for a poor average with RISP on Saturday and they faced one of the top P’s in the league on Sunday. The fact that those 13 runs were distributed 11, then 2, then 0 says more about randomness and how good Harvey is than it says about their offense.

My bad, I thought they only scored 11 on Friday and 2 on Saturday. Regardless, the fact that they actually scored 17 runs in 3 games furthers the point even more. Yes, they are inconsistent. Maybe if you understood randomness and small sample sizes, you would understand not to blame the hitting.

Historically, almost every .500 team has been inconsistent, running off stretches that excite the fanbase only to turn around a suffer through losing streaks that depress the loyalists. The point is that they scored 17 runs on Friday and Saturday, which should have been enough for them to go 2-0 before losing as expected to Harvey. However, randomness in the small sample size of 2 games unfortunately led to them winning in a blow out Friday, only to lose by one run on Saturday. Nonetheless, it seems like a reach to blame the offense for the team being 1-1 going into yesterday’s rubber match.

We disagree on the blame that Amaro deserves for this mess, but it’s probably best to just agree to disagree rather than go into that one.

Hogey, you have what I’d call “selective reading comprehension.” If someone disagrees with your position, you choose to twist it so you can attempt to be sarcastic. Nowhere did I say anything about expecting “to lose to a cy young pitcher EVERY TIME.” Please point out to everyone where I said that.

Lee would be outstanding playing for Texas — a contender. He deserves it. And we would hopefully get a few serious prospects in return. Trade Ruiz to the Rangers as well and we might be able to see them in the World Series.

They lost two of three to a team that sucks! what does that say about our team? Sadly that says a lot. I hate to see them lose. Thank God I didn’t get to see any of the game today. I went to a christening and around 5.00 o’clock I asked someone if the phils lost. The person laughed and said what do you think? shutout! geez!

The Phils are a flawed team that deserves to be right around .500. Statistically speaking, over the course of 99 games or 162 games, .500 teams will have stretches in which they look great (i.e. winning three consecutive series over WASH, ATL and CHI) and other stretches where they look bad (i.e. going 2-7 vs. MIL, MIN and COL). If you let yourself get teased when they are on one of their hot streaks, you’ll only be disappointed when the inevitable reverting to the mean occurs.

While I have continuously said that they should wait until after they play STL and DET to make the buy, hold or sell decision, this past weekend has changed my mind. The Phils inability to gain ground on ATL and them losing ground to CIN while playing the Mets makes me think – especially if what I read about how tight the trade market is is true – they should sell those players who they do not want on next year’s team. If other teams are reluctant to sell yet, the Phils should get a jump on the market and get the benefit of the supply vs. demand equation and put Papelbon, Michael Young and Chooch on the market and either release Delmon Young or trade him if some team is dumb enough to give up something for him.

One thing I’ve noticed with Cliff Lee , he always has 1 or 2 innings where he gives up a few hits usually hard hit. When he’s going good they are singles on the ground. When he goes bad they are usually elevated and leave the park. I know that’s a general observation but I notice it more with Cliff. Maybe if he slowed down a little between pitches when he’s going bad, it might give him more time to collect himself.

The homer he gave up to Lingares hung up there so long I think I could have hit it out and I’m 54 years old!

First time ever that old classic baseball guy Johnny Keane is part of the photo spectrum. Pictured with would be Bartlett’s star Yogi Berra, it’s a classic if they knew then what they would eventually know.

Keane is distantly topical at this time, and easy to reference as the Phils take their act under the arch. Keane was the dreaded manager of the ’64 Cardinal club. Dreaded is the sum of 6 and a half and 10. But those are September numbers. On this particular date, circa 1964 the eventual World Champs were a single game over .500, and the usually laid back St. Louis fan base, media, most anyone with a voice was all over Keane’s case and that was BEFORE KMOX was heavily invested in sports talk.

About 3 days after Keane sipped champagne with what easily might have been the NL’s best club despite it’s forever time frame to prove it, the Yanks officially closed out one of their golden eras by canning Yogi, and going the oft travelled route of nice guy for disciplinarian in the manager’s seat. Wrong place, wrong time. Sixth place in ’65, 9th or 10th in ’66, and Keane might have been a hero for telling his bosses to stick it after a summer of criticism resulted in a championship, but neither his Yankee tenure or life lasted much longer.

To fantasize about a happy endiing of the Charlie Manuel era is like trying to employ imaginative powers that would have recreated a Johnny Callison all star effort by Dom Brown al these 49 years later. The only facts in place are that the Phils are Christ, I’m out of synonyms for average, and there hasn’t been a story on Charlie’s contract in many sunrises in a row.

It’s almost TOO much of a foregone conclusion that he just won’t be renewed as signs of another mundane close are at least present if not destiny. And you can’t logically contest that. If the same miracle workers that carried Smar T. Jones to the 3/4 mark get ahold of said Phillies, then some worthwhile debate might be warranted, but the tight hold of it seems so obvious he’s gone keeps tightening its reigns over the story.

Whether or not the Phils finish well, whatever well is, make no mistake. Chuck Manuel is landing on his feet. From way out in left field, we wondered in the spring if maybe the Nats faiiled to follow up on J Doubleu Werth’s best team in baseball proclamation, if Mike Rizzo might stay old school and take a shot at thinking of Charlie. That is some wilder than wild ass spekalatrin,, but Pittsburgh ain’t far from Cholly’s West Virgunia home, and if El Buccos do another el swoon, doesn’t Charlie’s better than fantastic second half record make for an easy interview possibility?

No matter how this club plays the rest of the way, Charlie has never lost control of his ballclub. If it is his destiny is to be a visiting manager at The Bank, it won’t have the same headline grabbing grip of the Keane relocation, but it in substance, it will be quite a story. It almost makes you wish the Eagles would split up with Andy Reid so we could get a sneak preview of what a return visit might be like. Ah, the wishful thinking of a sports fan.

This is a joke and it’s typical coming from Selig’s office. If we assume that some agreement to serve as suspension was inevitable after the player’s union said they would not back the players, this agreement to serve the last 65 games this year instead of the first 65 games next year is a joke that’s in the team’s and the player’s best interests. The team, which is out of contention, will lose its best player in 65 irrelevant games and will probably solidify its place in next year’s draft, if not improve its position. The player, who is battling injury any way, gets to serve his suspension during meaningless games and in a year when he’s making less salary than he’ll make next year. If MLB wanted to make an example of Braun, they should have made him agree to play out the rest of this season and serve the suspension for the first 65 games of next season. Who could have imagined Bud Selig giving referential treatment to the Brewers and their star player?

If the deal he struck with MLB brings down the house on the rest, maybe it’s worth it. But I still can’t stand Braun.

I hate him as much for throwing the collector under the bus to cover up his bullshit, than anything else he did. I hope there is some way for that person to go after him now in a civil court and take him for a boatload of cash.

I can remember the Phils having a visualized softer schedule in the first month, and then toughening out as they headed west to play San Fransisco. The Giants were still world champs then, but the way they’ve played, even stepped down an extra notch after last night, it still was pretty much a shock when the Phils took 3 of the first 4.

Now, near playoff definites, and both good clubs host the Phils for 6. I suppose a segment of the population wants to hurry the Phils to 6 straight losses, and prime location as Liquidity Season ticks closer.

But, alas, average is average is average. My feeling about this series is the Phils show some flashes of good, frustrate the hell out of people at times, and win a MINIMUM of 2 of 6. I don’t think it exceeds reasonable by much to challenge the club to win 4 of the 6. It’d still be a camoflauge of sorts, but I’m kind of looking at the Meet the Mess series as a blip in the radar of the series wins in a row. When the Mets throw the right 3 starters at you, they stand a fair chance of winning 2 of 3. Specially at home. but it’s no lock.

So the goal here is 4 of 6.

I continue to be entertained by the buy sell dilemma the Phils are supposedly in. I can’t wait to see if the next couple days bring the Washington club into the co-pilot’s seat of that flight to liquidity. That’s the 3rd place Washington Nats if you’re scoring at home.

I suppose even in Cheyenne, Wyoming, they might have a hard time deciphering the top 10 local sports broadcasters of all time. Actually, that’s a poor choice since it’d be Curt Gowdy and 9 tag alongs, but when Philly.com released a list of such yesterday, that couldn’t have been a small task.

Phillie casters maing the list include Byrum “Rolling Right Along” Saam holding down 10, His Whiteness at 5, and we can save spaces by not typing the obvious number 1 sans name identity. Swing and a long drive.

Dan Baker earned 6. I applaud him for parlaying a school teaching career into 40 years of PA, but some good names got left off (which is gonna happen) and maybe at his expense as a PA guy. Besides, is he better than David “If you must smoke, do not inhale” Zinkoff?.

You could put Franzke on there, no question, at least on quality if not relatively speaking, but it was nice to see Big Al Meltzer, who, teamed with Bob Vetrone was the pre cursor to the Kalas-Ashburn tandem, and frankly, not necessarily an ounce less enjoyable. Les Keiter was deservedly mentioned. Merrill Reese was left off, which was kinda sorta okay, it wouldn’t have killed me if Charlie “Check That” Swift made the list. Merrill is one of these seems like the clippings are okayt to believe on his terrific nice guy image, but that’s where the high level of achievement stops. Well, compared to his pbp. Andy Musser could have made the list. His basketball work was real good, but I’d be at a loss to compare him with Tom McGinnis, who I’ve never heard call a dribble.

But it was pretty cool that some of the long ago guys weren’t forgotten. Yeah, they were good, real good, but I’m sure there was a time when By Samm would have easily been number one, and time has dropped him to 10. Bill Campbell was a good selection also.